


A Hot Mission

by fanatic__rose



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Jealous Bucky Barnes, Light Angst, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov - Freeform, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Civil War (Marvel), Romantic Fluff, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:27:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24654562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanatic__rose/pseuds/fanatic__rose
Summary: Natasha and Bucky go on a mission that might finally make them confess their feelings to each other after so many years.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Tony Stark & Natasha Romanov, Wanda Maximoff & Natasha Romanov, Wanda Maximoff & Steve Rogers
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I finally decided to give this story idea a chance and I hope you like it!

Natasha looked at herself in the mirror and re-adjusted her dark blue silk dress for the hundredth time. She didn’t know why she was so nervous about this mission and had changed clothes so many times she had lost count. Her hair had grown a few inches and Wanda had helped her braiding and attaching it with some pins so at least that was something she didn’t have to worry about. At least there was one thing.

“I’d say you’re ready for this.”

Natasha heard his beautiful husky voice coming from behind, far away enough to not be seen in the mirror but as he came closer she saw, eyes fixed on it, his body inside a dark blue tuxedo and a black shirt slightly opened and no tie. Natasha cursed in silence that she had nothing to cover up her face with to hide her reaction at how handsome he looked. So many years of knowing him and working by his side and yet she wasn’t used to it completely and the butterflies that she was feeling proved it.

“You’re looking sharp, James.” Natasha finally said, turning back to face him, who instantly chuckled at her compliment.

“And you’re…” Bucky started as he walked closer to her, “so gorgeous, Natalia.” He took a deep breath while looking into her eyes and then quickly changed the subject. “I gotta give you…” he started to nervously rummage something inside his jacket and finally took out two eyeglass cases. “This. Ray-Band. Tony’s by the way. He said we could keep them.”

Natasha put them on and started making faces in the mirror, making Bucky laugh. For Natasha, that had to be the most beautiful sound in the world and she wished he would just do it more often. Natasha took off the glasses just to see his smile. She definitely wasn’t used to him completely.

“And… he also said you could keep this.” With soft blue eyes, he handed her a long necklace made of small diamonds that matched perfectly with the dress. As Natasha was putting it on, Bucky couldn’t keep his gaze off her neckline as the diamonds made their way through it and she placed it very carefully with her fingers. She saw his shoulders moving slowly as he took a deep breath.

“You smell very nice, too.”

Natasha felt Bucky’s breath against her neck and she wondered what would happen if he touched it with his fingers or even with his lips, caressing her skin softly like she knew he could. At that moment, Natasha looked at the two of them in the mirror and she couldn’t help but think how freaking good they looked together, specially with those matching outfits.

“Thanks.” She said, realizing she hadn’t said anything yet, making both of them chuckle.

Natasha looked down but then their eyes met again in the mirror and she turned her back because she couldn’t keep up with the tension any longer.

“God.” Natasha said as soon as she saw that someone had entered the room. When she looked at Bucky she noticed that it had taken him by surprise as well.

“Good evening. You’re looking great, Nat.”

“Thank you, Tony.” She said, smiling. “What are you doing here?”

“The limousines are ready, we have to go now, everyone else is out there already.” Tony looked at the two of them and Natasha felt as if he knew something was about to happen if he hadn’t entered the room. “We’ll meet there in around an hour, depending on the traffic and then we’ll get the job done. T’Challa’s on his way already. You all remember what you have to do?” Tony asked.

“Yeah, Nat and I are European artists, we just have to act normal, follow yours and Steve’s instructions and, once T’Challa gives us the sign, we go to the rooftop and deactivate the bomb,” Bucky said.

“Someone has been studying. Okay. It’s so great you can speak so many languages because that will really help us tonight. You have to be paying attention to everything because there are people coming from all around the world to this event. Whoever knows something about the bomb could say it in any language other than English to get away with it easier.” Tony warned.

“We will.” Natasha assured him.

“Okay. I’ll see you there.” Tony said, and when he was about to exit the room he looked and Bucky and asked: “By the way, are you coming with Steve or Nat in the limousine?”

“I’m going with her.” Bucky answered looking at her, and Natasha made an effort not to blush in front of Tony.

“Alright, so I’ll see you there.”

After Tony left, Bucky opened the door and they got out of the room with Bucky’s metal hand on Natasha’s waist.

***

“Sorry.” Bucky whispered, taking his hand off of Natasha’s body and looking at the floor.

“Why?” She asked.

“The… hand. The arm, in general.” He answered, this time looking at her.

His insecurities about his metal arm always enhanced when he had to go on missions and Natasha knew this well. Missions where people could see him. Even if they weren’t looking at him, he thought they were judging him somehow. When she was in the tower, he covered up his body sometimes. He didn’t do that when Steve, Tony or Sam were around but if she was, he did, although he had never avoided her in a rude way. It was so obvious he did that because of how he felt about it with others seeing that part of him that reminded him of his past, a past where he had hurt her, something that still haunted him to this day.

“Bucky. It’s fine. I’m totally fine with it.” Natasha said, taking his metal hand again. “I like it as much as the rest of you.” She added, looking into his eyes. “You can touch me with it. It could never make me feel bad.”

Of all the fears Natasha could have, her biggest one at that moment was saying too much. She intertwined her fingers with Bucky’s metal ones and with that touch, she felt as if she had added the perfect words she didn’t know if she would ever be brave enough to say.

“Can you feel anything with that hand, though? I think I haven’t really asked you about it.” Natasha said.

“I… huh… I can sort of feel temperatures, thanks to Tony. More like identifying them. But it means a lot when someone touches me without being afraid. So I guess you could say yes.” Bucky answered shyly.

Their hands were still touching even when they got inside the limousine. Once they got comfortable and put their seatbelts on, Bucky slowly caressed Natasha’s cheek with his metal fingers. She felt she was daydreaming all the time when it came to him but that touched proved it had to be real.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody! Sorry for not uploading in a while but I was having problems with my computer. I decided to post a longer chapter this time to make up for the days without updates and I hope you enjoy it.

“Natasha.”

Bucky’s husky voice let her know they had arrived at their destination and made her come back to earth. She looked at him and saw how he was putting a black glove on to cover his metal hand. Then, they both made sure their guns were hidden and Bucky opened the door of the vehicle and held it for Natasha. That seemed to be a very difficult mission, the place was full of people and despite having Bucky’s arm around her, Natasha felt there was something that could go wrong.

“You’re here.”

“Tony.” Natasha said, smiling when she turned her back. Bucky let go of her arm so she could hug her friend and Tony placed a gentle kiss on her right cheek and held her hands.

“You look beautiful.” He said.

“Well, thank you.” Natasha answered with a small laugh. “You didn’t bring your suit?” She exclaimed once she look at him with more attention.

“What do you mean? Isn’t this enough?” Tony complained looking at his body.

“Tony…” She started, coming closer to him.

“Trust me on this.” Tony whispered. “There has been a little change in plans.” He added.

“How little?” Bucky asked.

And then Bucky saw the last person he had wanted to think about for the last few months.

“Hello, Nat.”

Natasha’s ex-boyfriend.

“Hi, Bruce.” She answered after a very long silence.

No matter how hard Bucky was trying to keep it cool, Tony sensed the awkward vibes and decided to break the ice before something bad could happen.

“He’ll join you two tonight.”

“But Nat already has a partner for this mission.” Bucky stated, putting his body closer to Nat’s.

“He knows a lot about the bomb and could be really helpful. That’s why I called him.” Tony said that last sentence looking directly at Bucky. “He’s the best weapon we have and if he doesn’t turn into the Hulk, he’ll pass unnoticed.”

“Let’s hope that.” Bucky replied.

Natasha felt the tension between the two men but at the same time she couldn’t understand why Bucky was so bothered by Bruce’s presence.

“Let’s hope no one turns into anything dangerous tonight.” Bruce said, and by the casual tone in his voice, he clearly hadn’t realized the effect those words could have in Bucky.

Natasha quickly put her body closer to Bucky, who had also moved his body, causing their chests slightly impact. She looked at him and Bucky’s expression inmediately softened at the feeling of having her body so close to his. Bruce stared at them for a while, as if for them he was no longer there. Bruce saw something in Natasha’s eyes he hadn’t seen since… ever.

Once again, Tony broke the silence.

“Alright.” He said, making Natasha and Bucky to separate a few inches, as Tony’s voice had caught them by surprise. They looked into each other’s eyes, realizing how close they were. “Are you ready?” Tony asked. “We have to start the mission now.”

Bucky took a deep breath before taking his eyes off Natasha. “Yes.” He stated.

***

When they entered the building, Bruce realized that Natasha was holding Bucky’s left arm, the one he knew well was made of metal. He had no idea what could’ve happened when he had been away but looking at his ex standing next to Bucky, Bruce couldn’t help but make a series of scenarios in his head. The distance had helped both of them moving on but they still didn’t know how to go back to where they were before the relationship.

Natasha and Bucky connected their coms and when Natasha finally looked at Bruce she noticed that he didn’t have one.

“Where’s your…?” She started.

“Oh. Don’t worry about it. To-Tony told me that you will be giving me the orders tonight.” Bruce felt really awkward saying that sentence and he also didn’t want to stutter. But he couldn’t help it. So many months away from her and he came back to find that she was probably dating someone else.

Natasha simply nodded at him and then heard the sound of Tony’s voice through the com.

“Nat? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, Tony.”

“Buck?” Steve said to his friend.

“Hey, buddy.”

“Okay, the party just started so you have to blend into the environment. Dance, drink, don’t get drunk or I’ll quick your ass. Nat, tell Bruce to inform you about the bomb.” Tony said.

“Bucky, I’ll give you a sign so you go to the rooftop, but I don’t think it’s going take too long.”

“Got it.” Bucky answered.

Natasha then looked at the two men standing in front of her, waiting for her to do or say something.

“Follow me.” She said, walking towards the bar counter.

Natasha found a place to sit, which, looking as beautiful as she did, specially in that dress, was quite easy for her.

“Vodka martini, please.” She ordered.

“Make it two.” Bucky said.

“Oh, a scotch whiskey for me.” Bruce added.

Once they all had their drinks Natasha couldn’t help but look at the James Bond vibes that Bucky was giving her. His facial expression was serious and concentrated on the crowd. Bruce, however, looked completely disoriented, which worried Natasha.

“Bucky, I want you to pay attention if you hear something suspicious. I’ll stay here with Bruce.”

He hesitated for a few seconds but then took his drink in his hand and walked away. Once they were alone, Natasha felt that awkward sensation again but it wasn’t because she still held feelings for Bruce, but because she didn’t know how to be his friend like they used to be. They shared a history, like she did with Bucky, but when she lost him and found the Avengers Bruce and her form a close friendship and then a bond when he didn’t know how to be Banner as well as the Hulk. He felt lost and then found her but when they decided to start a relationship they quickly realized how they had mistaken that bond with love.

“It feels really good to be back on a mission, Nat.”

“Well, it’s good to have you back.”

“Thanks. I’ve missed… being me, you know? Being the brains and not just… smashing stuff.”

“I know.”

Natasha turned around until he found Bucky in the crowd, who was looking at her in that moment. There was a woman next to him and when he looked back at her she smiled and kept talking to Bucky

“Nat.” Bruce said.

“What?” She asked.

“The… the bomb, remember?”

“Yes, of course. Tell me.” Natasha took a sip of her drink and tried not to think about Bucky.

“So there’s a big chance it’s a HYDRA design. It seems to be brand-new but I’ve been doing some research and it looks like a combination of various designs. This one has a complex system that does not involve cables to deactivate the bombs and instead has a code and each bomb has its own. Tony and I have been working with some prototypes and we actually found the pattern they follow. When we go to the rooftop he’ll tell you what the code is.”

Natasha took a deep breath, feeling anxious about the situation. The thought of the code being wrong and being too late, causing the deaths of so many innocent people was making her shiver.

Then, she felt a familiar hand on her skin.

“Natasha.”

“Bucky.” She jumped.

“Sorry.” He said smiling. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Is something wrong?” She felt her heart racing, adding to her fear.

“No. I was just going to ask you if you’d dance with me. We’re supposed to blend in and I think it would help you relax.”

Natasha looked at him and her expression softened. He really could read her mind sometimes.

“Well… why don’t you show them your moves, Sargeant Barnes?” She bravely managed to say. And she felt glad she did because that made Bucky laugh for the first time that night. He looked at Natasha with shiny eyes and took her hand.

“Let’s go.” Bucky said with a wide smile on his face.

He caressed Natasha’s arm while taking her to the middle of the crowd and when his hands went to her waist, they heard the voice of Sinatra in the background. Witchcraft.

“I love this song,” Bucky said with his amazing husky voice.

“Me too. It's one of my faves.” Natasha answered, making him smile.

Bucky spun Natasha around a few times until he was holding her in his embrace with his strong arms. His metal hand covered with the glove caressed Natasha’s arm and travel across her skin getting to her hand, holding it firmly as they kept dancing.

“It feels like he’s back,” Bucky said. If it wasn’t for the nostalgic tone of his voice she would’ve thought he was talking about Bruce. “Who I was back in the 40s when I used to dance a lot more than now.”

“Well, you had plenty of ladies waiting to dance with you.” Natasha replied, trying to find the woman Bucky had been talking to before.

Bucky laughed a little before spinning her around once again and then pulling her even closer to his body than it already was.

“They weren’t as good as you.” He whispered in her ear, making her blush so much her cheeks felt as if they were on fire.

They danced until the song ended and another one started. Natasha wished for everything to be as easy as it was in that moment. But the truth is that it wasn’t. She was afraid of making the same mistake she has made with Bruce and ruin her friendship with Bucky. If things went wrong she knew she could never recover from that. She didn’t want to lose him again.

“I know you’re scared. I saw how you were shaking.” Bucky said, hugging Natasha tighter while they danced.

“You’re not?” She asked, looking at him. When it came to him, she was never scared of showing her fears. She never felt the need to look strong at the time when she thought something could go wrong. Never in front of him.

“Natalia, I’ve learned after so many years that no matter how scared we are, no matter the chances of something bad happening, we always have to hold on to the good things. I’ve been lucky enough to find happiness again.” Bucky stopped for a second, looking at Natasha’s eyes. Now he felt that he was the one shaking. “I just hope you feel the same way.”

For Bucky, that sentence was like thinking out loud, almost saying the words he had always thought were best kept a secret. However, his thoughts were soon interrupted by Steve’s voice.

“Bucky, you have to move now, the bomb is going to detonate in less than fifteen minutes.”

Natasha didn’t have to ask him, the serious expression on his face was enough for her to know what Steve had said. When she was in her way to Bruce, he had already seen her.

“Where?” Bruce asked her.

“The rooftop. There’s an elevator right there.” Natasha answered.

“What do you want me to do?” Bruce replied.

Natasha thought for a second, but she was sure about what she was going to say.

“I need you to come with me.”

Bucky took her arm and made her look him.

“I’m not leaving you, you know that.” Bucky stated. There was something in his voice that Natasha couldn’t unravel in that moment, a mixture of an obvious worry and a strange anger.

“I know. And I need you.” Natasha then realized the intensity of her words and quickly added: “I need both of you.”

Bucky took a deep breath, relaxing his shoulders. He glared at Bruce. “We have to go. Now.”

They managed to get out of there and went to the elevator without been seen. Or so they thought. Bruce pushed the button to the last floor and Natasha searched for Bucky’s hand to hold it but she couldn’t find it. Suddenly, the doors opened after a few floors and three men came in the elevator. When Natasha finally found Bucky’s hand with her eyes, she saw that he had a knife.

One of the men turned his back to him with another knife and started to fight with him. Natasha took a step back and held a gun in her hands, pointing at the man who was in front of her, armed as well and she shot him. The other man turned back to her and before he could make another move, Bruce cut off his throat. At that moment, the man left was holding his knife to Bucky’s face, whose knife was on the floor of the elevator. Natasha went back to save her gun on her thigh and kicked the man on the leg, making the knife fell. Natasha took it along with Bucky’s and stabbed the man for the sides. She let the knives enter his body for a few seconds and then removed them quickly. The man turned around to face her and she stabbed him once again, one knife on his chest and the other one on the stomach. He fell to the ground as soon as she removed them from his body, this time a little bit slower.

“Are you okay?” Natasha asked Bucky, worried.

“Umm… yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” He answered with widened eyes.

“Okay. We have a bomb to dismantle.” Natasha said before returning both knives to Bucky.

The doors of the elevator finally opened and Bruce took the bodies and placed them so they stood in a way that no one could take the elevator. Natasha walked slowly, gun in hand, through a long dark corridor until she found the door that led to the rooftop. Before Natasha could take another step, Bruce touched her arm to stop her.

“Tony will tell you the code through the com when you ask him.”

“Alright. Stay here. Bucky and I will take care of the rest.” She told Bruce.

“Got it.” He replied.

Bucky opened the door and as soon as he did that, he screamed in pain and closed it, looking at his left arm. He had been shot.

“Fuck.” He murmured.

“Bucky!” Natasha came to him on the floor and when she touched him she felt the blood on her fingers. “I’m going out there.” Natasha said.

“No. Nat. I won’t let you do this on your own.” She looked at Bucky’s eyes almost watering.

“Bucky, he has a gun, I have a gun and there’s only like ten minutes left before this fucking building blows up. Let. Me. Go.” She replied, frustrated.

“I’ll go with you.” He added, grabbing her left hand while her right was holding the gun.

“And where will the next bullet end up? Uh? Tell me.” Natasha said with anger in her voice.

He kept looking at her and then he decided to let go of her hand with sad eyes.

“I’m not taking that risk, Bucky. You need to understand that.” Natasha added, running her fingers through his hair.

Bucky closed his eyes and nodded. Natasha made him move away from the door as she opened it again and starting to shoot but the man of the rooftop dodge all of her bullets… until there were none left. Natasha’s entire body froze but, just before the man pulled his trigger, the sound of bullets filled the air. The man fell down after having been shot at what it seemed every inch in his body. Natasha looked down at where the bomb was and went on to dismantle it just in time. Heavily breathing, she turned around to see where the bullet had come from. But deep inside, she already knew the answer.

“Bucky.”

He put down the gun and practically run to her. Natasha jumped to Bucky and he caught her thighs as she noticed the absence of the glove at the feeling of his metal hand on her skin.

“I know what you said. But… one of the guys on the elevator was really bad at hiding stuff.” Bucky said pointing at the gun in his hands.

Natasha laughed with watering eyes, brushing Bucky’s cheeck with her fingers.

“Thank you.” She said to him, looking at Bucky deep in the eyes.

“Hey, we’re teammates. You don’t have to thank me.” He replied.

Teammates. Of course. That simple word felt like a bomb in her chest, echoing in her head.

Bucky put Natasha down and she put her gun back in its place.

“You should keep that one.” She told Bucky, holding the AK-47 he had taken from one of the men on the elevator.

“I rather not cause a scene after that mess back there.” He answered, pointing at the direction of the elevator. They both laughed, one more sincere than the other.

“We have to leave now.” Bruce said, interrupting Natasha’s thoughts.

They took the elevator in silence and when the doors opened, Natasha thanked Bruce for his help, to which he simply answered with a short ‘you’re welcome’, before leaving her with Bucky in the hall of the building. Natasha told Bucky she needed a drink and he decided to give her some space. He saw Steve and left Natasha alone at the bar while she ordered some alcohol to deal with her emotions. She was almost done with her drink when she heard the familiar laugh of Tony at the other side of the bar. He had the company of her beautiful long-term girlfriend Pepper Potts. She was wearing a purple dress that kind of matched Tony’s suit. She noticed Tony’s hand on Pepper’s back before they kissed. She looked away and took a last sip of her drink. At least someone got to be happy but ihurt to admit to herself that she was a little bit jealous of what they had and she knew, since that night, she wouldn't have with Bucky.

Suddenly, a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Hey! I haven’t seen you all night!”

Natasha turned around and smile and her friend Wanda, who was looking amazing in a red dress with thin straps.

“Wanda!” She exclaimed, hugging her.

“How was the mission? I was just here as backup with Vision. And I have to tell you…” Wanda stopped talking when she realized that her friend had a weird look in her eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong? You’re usually really happy when we succeed at a mission and it was all because of you tonight. What happened?”

And before Natasha could even answer, she felt a cold metallic hand on her shoulder.

"Nat…?"

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What did he want? All that Natasha could think in that moment was that he was about to send her to the friendzone officially.

"Yes, Bucky?" Natasha said. She couldn't possibly be more nervous at that moment.

"Is it okay for you if I go on the car with Steve on our way back? I have... stuff to talk about with him, you know?" He said, running his fingers through his hair like a hundred times.

And right after he asked that Steve appeared from behind, wearing a garnet suit and he had a beard that was at least a week old.

"Hi, Nat! I haven't seen you at all tonight. We've worked in little teams this time. I'm sure you've done an amazing job. Both of you, of course." He said, pointing at Bucky and her.

"Banner has helped as well," Bucky said, to Natasha’s surprise.

"Yeah, he has." She added, looking at Bucky who immediately looked away from her. He pressed his lips hard lifting his eyebrows and then made her remember his question that she hadn't answered. "You can go, I'll go with Wanda in the car, it’s okay. I’ll see you at the Tower, guys. Good night." She mumbled before almost running away.

Natasha noticed Wanda’s confused expression but she didn’t want to talk about it in that moment. After that long night, all she wanted to do was get home and forget about that damn word. But, before getting to the car, Natasha saw Bruce, looking at her in a way that made it obvious he needed to tell her something. She told Wanda to go to the car and that she would be there in a second.

"Thank you for your help tonight, Bruce. I think I didn’t tell you how you deserved.” Natasha said.

“Don’t thank me, I did what I had to do.” His voice was calm, somehow more than Natasha expected.

There was an uncomfortable silence, and before Natasha could go away, thinking the conversation was finished, Bruce said:

“I talked to Bucky as well. He’s a great guy.”

That definitely took Natasha by surprise and Bruce surely saw that on her face, filled with confusion.

"Look, Nat, I think I should tell you something." He paused for a moment to look at her in the eyes. The words that would follow would only confirm to him that Natasha had moved on with someone else. And he needed that. He needed to have her again as his friend, no matter what her situation was but specially if she was happy in a new relationship.

“What is it?”

Natasha had no idea what he would have to say now and, honestly, she was scared. She hated this kind of moments because they made her feel anxious and her mind wondered about all the possible ways things could go down.

He took a deep breath before saying, finally: “I gave him the gun.”

Natasha’s eyes widened.

“What are you talking about?”

“At the rooftop. When you went through that door even though that was the last thing Bucky wanted. He couldn’t think, he didn’t know what to do. I had never seen a man feeling so powerless.”

Natasha remembered Bucky’s gaze when she told him she wasn’t going to let him risk his life. Because Bucky dying was the last thing she wanted to happen and the thought of it brought tears to her eyes she tried to hold back every time.

“So I looked back to the elevator and I saw that the guy I killed had a gun inside the jacket. I should’ve seen it before…”

“No, it’s okay… And then what happened?” She asked.

***

_“Here. Take it.” Bruce said, handing Bucky the gun._

_“What the fuck are you doing?” Bucky asked. Even though they were on a mission together, he didn’t trust him and what he was doing didn’t make any sense to Bucky._

_“Look, if there was still any glimpse of… soldier in you, you wouldn’t be like this.” Bruce replied with regret in his voice._

_Bucky kept looking at him, still wondering if he should trust him._

_“I know you care about her, you don’t have to tell me that.”_

_Then, Bucky felt completely vulnerable and he hated that, specially being in front of Bruce._

_“Go.”_

_Bucky was trying to process Bruce’s words when the sound of Natasha’s gunshots stopped and Bucky felt like his heart did too. He kicked the door so hard it fell down and he started shooting at the guy. And when Natasha turned around to him, astonished, his heart started beating again._

***

“I knew if someone had to go out there and help you out… it had to be him. I gave him the gun and he ran out there to save you.”

Natasha couldn’t believe what he was telling her and the fact that that was giving her hopes to think that Bucky could have feelings for her hurt so much.

“After this mission I see that you’ve clearly moved on and I’m very happy for you.” Bruce added.

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Natasha asked.

“Nat…Come on, you know what I’m talking about.”

Natasha looked at Bruce with confusion and he couldn’t believe she didn’t get it.

“Seriously? Bucky…” 

“Bruce, that’s… insane.”

“Look, I’ve moved on, you don’t have to lie to me.”

“We’re teammates! Okay? That’s all.” Natasha said, repeating the word that made her heart twist.

Bruce took a deep breath.

“I just… I think you deserve to be loved. And we couldn’t make that happened but I hope we can at least be friends. I just want you to be happy.” He stated before walking away.

Natasha stood there, hating the feeling of vulnerability and walked to the car with Wanda.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, I’m just… really tired.” Natasha answered. Technically, she wasn’t lying.

Wanda knew something was off but she decided to leave it there for now. She could imagine as well how exhausted Natasha must be after the mission and that maybe tomorrow morning she would feel better and willing to talk about it.

“Alright, let’s leave then.” Wanda said, giving Natasha a hug.

With her arms around Wanda, she remembered about the blood in one of her hands. Bucky’s. She put her hand in a fist, trying to forget about it.

“Chofer, please, turn the radio on. We’re going to need some music.” Wanda at her smiling and she hoped that no sad songs came up on their way to the Tower. Once she heard Dua Lipa’s voice Natasha’s body reacted instantly.

“Turn the music up!” Wanda said, almost screaming behind the partition.

Nat started dancing and Wanda was glad to see her enjoying herself like that. Natasha focused on the lyrics of the first verse that talked about love and couldn’t help but think of Bucky. When the bridge came up, she felt happy and strong enough to sing along.

_Something you lit up heaven in me_

_The feeling won’t let me sleep_

_‘Cause I’m lost in the way you move, the way you feel_

Natasha looked at Wanda and sang along together the chorus.

_One kiss is all it takes_

_Fallin' in love with me_

_Possibilities_

_I look like all you need_

_One kiss is all it takes_

_Fallin' in love with me_

_Possibilities_

Natasha spent all the way back to the Tower thinking about how would it feel to kiss Bucky, what his lips would taste like. Probably something similar to heaven.

***

“How was the mission, Buck?”

“It was… good. We made it.”

“I imagine. Having Nat must have helped you a lot, I know how easier it gets for you when you have missions… the fact that she’s by your side and all.”

“Tonight… I was really worried about her. More than I’ve ever been.”

Steve quickly turned his head to Bucky.

“What? What happened?”

“She’s fine, Steve. But… I…” His voice started to shiver and he took a few breaths with his mouth. He closed his eyes and the image of Natasha walking out through that door came back, as well as the sound of the last gunshot she made when you ran out of bullets. “I thought I was going to lose her.”

“What are you talking about, Bucky?”

“She saved me from a guy who almost killed me in the elevator and then… there was another guy on the rooftop, waiting for us.” He took a pause. The memories were still too fresh in his mind and for a second he wished he had chosen to go with her on the car to hold her all the way back to the Tower but he needed to talk about this with someone that wasn’t Natasha. And Steve was the only one he could do it with. “She didn’t want me to die and she wasn’t letting me go out there with her. She was so worried about me…” He took a pause again and this time Steve comforted him by caressing his shoulder. “She went out there on her own. She ran out of bullets… If it wasn’t for Banner I don’t know what would’ve happened to her, Steve. I don’t want to think about it.”

“Hey, it’s okay. Nat’s okay. But what happened with Banner? I don’t understand.”

“He… he found a gun on the elevator. One of the guys had it. He gave it to me…”

“…to save Nat.”

They both looked at each other.

“Yeah… I don’t know why he did that. He was… I thought they were flirting with each other.” Bucky said in an angry voice.

“Buck, it was the first time they saw each other after they dated for a few months but that was a long time ago.”

Steve stopped for a second, realizing what was happening.

“Look, if you have feelings for her, you should tell her because I think she feels the same way about you.”

“Steve…”

“What? Now you’re telling me you’re not crazy about each other? I see the way she looks at you when sometimes she comes to the gym and you run away. And when you’re not there I can tell how she looks for you. She asks me where you are. She cares about you!”

“She cares about you too! And Tony! And Wanda… she cares about everyone!”

“Buck, don’t you see this is not just a friendly way of caring about someone?”

Bucky then thought about the two of them dancing and the way Natasha smiled when he spun her around and pulled her closer to him. When she jumped to his arms, the feeling of her thighs, her breathing on his neck… everything. Bucky knew that if he were with Natasha in the same car he would be kissing her how her lips would feel against his. If she were to kiss him back.

“I’m just too afraid to tell her the truth.” Bucky finally said.

Steve started to think about the situation on their way to the Tower, when an idea came to him at last.

“Please tell me you have any wounds or I’ll have to think about something else.” Steve said.

“Ummm… thank you for worrying about me?” Bucky answered.

Steve started examining Bucky’s face.

“Damn it!”

Steve paused for a second and then continued under Bucky’ shirt.

“Seriously, what are you doing? Steve! Man, stop tickling me!” Bucky said, almost laughing.

“Look, you can go to her, you know, looking kind of tired with a puppy face…” Steve started.

“What are you talking about?” Bucky asked, totally confused. “Look, I don’t want to mess things up between her and I. I know it won’t work. We’re… teammates. That’s all.” It hurt him to say that word but he thought Natasha couldn’t see him as more than that.

“Please tell me you didn’t say that to her, Buck.”

Bucky looked at him and Steve immediately guessed those were the words he had said to her before.

“Bucky!!! Why do you push her away like that?”

“Because she’s too good for me.”

“Bullshit!” Steve exclaimed, leaving Bucky surprised at his friend’s choice of words. He almost never cursed. “She’s an amazing girl, the kind I would love to see you happy with. You’re my friend, and so is she. So please, don’t mess things up doing things like that, Bucky. I know she can be really good for you.”

“She already is.” Bucky took a deep breath before saying what he just realized had been true for a while. “There’s no hint of winter soldier in me… and it’s all since she came into my life.”

“That’s amazing, Bucky! Then let me help you out! Because I know you’re still too afraid to do anything about it no matter what I tell you.”

“And what do you exactly have in mind?”

Steve’s eyes shone in excitement.

“When we come back to the Tower you can ask her if she can… you know… check on you.”

“What?” Bucky asked, having no idea what Steve was referring to.

“You can ask her to see if you have any wounds, like… underneath your shirt, maybe?” Steve continued.

“Seriously, what???”

Steve sighed. “What do you want, Bucky?”

The image was already on Bucky’s mind. He knew there was no way of him not going crazy under the touch of Natasha’s fingers taking care of his body and he tried not to get too excited about it in that moment.

“I may have a wound or two after fighting a guy with knives.”

“Great! Let me see.”

Bucky sighed but finally allowed Steve to take off his shirt, looking for wounds. The shirt was so dark it could have hidden a few. And it had. Steve found the first one near where his flesh met the metal. They both kept looking for more wounds and suddenly Bucky found one on his stomach when he felt the pain of the recent injury. Steve found a few small ones on Bucky’s flesh arm, near the bicep.

“I think you’re going to make someone really happy tonight, Buck…” Steve said with a mischievous smile.

“You’re unbelievable. Now let me put my clothes back on.” Bucky replied.

When he was almost done buttoning his shirt he realized something was off.

“And now that we know that I’m actually injured how am I going to be casual about it?”

“Trust me, buddy, I got you covered.”

Bucky laughed a little but he was really nervous about what could happen and Steve couldn’t be more excited about the thought of two of his best friends getting together.

The way back to the Tower seemed everlasting for all of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought about jealous Bucky in this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it. Also, I made a fancam on twitter with the concept of this fanfic if you want to check it out! https://twitter.com/irenerv_14/status/1275122889155653632


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has taken me so long to update but it has been really hard for me to keep writing but in the end this story is very special to me and I really want to share it. Kudos and comments are very welcome and will keep me motivated!!

The cars arrived in synchrony at the Tower and the first thing Natasha saw when she got out was Bucky. Steve was whispering things to his ear and he seemed pretty nervous as if he couldn’t process what his friend was telling him. Then, Bucky looked at her and his facial expression had changed completely. He smiled instantly but he did it so fast Natasha couldn’t tell if it was fake or not. When her eyes went to Steve, he was also smiling, which made her relax a little bit. She didn’t want things to be weird between her and Bucky, so she decided that maybe the best thing to do was to forget about that night and move on. Besides, having him as a friend was amazing. And that was the problem. Being in his life was something so precious to her that she was afraid of ruining it and that would be worse than not doing what her heart desired so bad.

As Natasha walked closer to Bucky, his pulse started to race. Bucky had been thinking about her the whole way back to the Tower and when came close enough he felt the need to reach out to Natasha. She stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Bucky’s flesh hand took his time on Natasha’s skin as if he was studying the bone. When his hand caressed part of her clavicle with his thumb, Natasha had to close her eyes for a second. His hand then traveled down her arm, feeling the velvet skin as he made his way to the elbow where Natasha thought she would lose it completely. When he got to the wrist her flesh was aching. Bucky finally took her hand, holding each and every one of her fingers, and his lips met her skin, taking Natasha by surprise when he softly kissed her palm at the feeling of her pulse. His ocean blue eyes looked into hers and he saw the thin line between her fleshy lips that she was breathing through.

“I’m going to stay up a little bit. I know it’s late but I’m… I’m really not that tired.” Nat said. She knew it would be hard to get some sleep after that night and she was afraid of what her dreams could bring her.

“Yeah… we’ll probably do the same.” Steve replied.

Natasha looked at both of them without completely believing it. Steve didn’t look tired at all. But Bucky… he definitely needed some rest.

“Okay… I… I’m going inside.” She said awkwardly.

When Natasha and Wanda got into the elevator, Wanda was the first one to break the silence before getting with the rest of the crew.

“So… did something happened with Bucky tonight?”

Nat looked at her with a sad face, worrying her friend.

“Honestly… I… I don’t know what happened.” She sighed. “It’s so complicated.”

“Well… I’ve never said anything about it but… I would say he’s pretty into you, Nat. I mean, I had my doubts for a while but it clearly shows that he has feelings for you.” Wanda said. “And so do you.” She added with a soft smile.

“Trust me, it only goes one way.” Nar replied, almost laughing.

Wanda made an attempt to reply to, but she decided it was better not to say anything.

“What?” Nat asked.

“I just think it’s a shame you don’t believe that he could be in love with you. You’re amazing. And he clearly sees that.”

“I have enough evidence to think that it’s not mutual, Wanda.”

“Like what?”

“He called me teammate, he didn’t go on the car with me on the way back…”

“So????” She interrupted her. “Don’t you see the way he looks at you? I’m sure that’s not everything that happened tonight.”

“It’s where I’m left with.” She realized her voice was breaking, so she took a deep breath before making a fool of herself even more. “At the end of the day, that’s how he sees me. As his teammate. Just like the rest of you.”

***

Bucky leaned his head on the wall while Steve and him waited for the elevator with a sad expression on his face and his flesh hand in a fist as if he was trying to retain the feeling of Natasha’s skin.

“I don’t know why I did it…”

“Hey! I didn’t tell you to follow just my plan. I think it’s what she needed after tonight.”

“She pretty much ran away, Steve.” He said, biting his lower lip.

“That’s not true. Hey, look at me.” Bucky’s eyes were watering in frustration.

“I thought that I would never be able to give love to someone the way I want to give love to her. But I do. And it’s killing me.”

Steve couldn’t keep seeing his friend like that, he really wanted him and Nat to be happy together and he knew they could. He knew they would. But neither of them were brave enough to consider the possibility of their love not being unrequited, for a reason he couldn’t understand.

“Listen, everything’s going to work out for you guys, I swear. Now, try to relax before we go up there, you don’t want to worry her more than you’re already about to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“How do you think she’ll react when she sees your wounds?”

Bucky looked at Steve and took a deep breath. He really wanted to believe his friend, as much as Natasha wanted to believe Wanda’s words. But it just seemed too good to be true.

The sound of the elevator suddenly arriving interrupted his thoughts.

“You’re okay, buddy?”

“Yeah.” He sighed.

“Okay. Remember, I’ll touch your shoulder, you make a sound to show that you’re pain… and she’ll do the rest, trust me.”

“Thank you for worrying so much about me, Steve.”

“Hey! Always! This is what friends are for, Buck.”

***

Natasha had already gone to her room to change her clothes because she didn’t want to ruin her dress. She looked at herself in the mirror as she took it off, thinking of the way Bucky looked at her when he came into the room. Nat allowed her mind to wander and it brought back the image of the two of them in the mirror. She sighed. Could Bruce and Wanda be right? Maybe it really was nonsense to just be thinking of the bad things that had happened that night and not letting herself think for a while about the good stuff. Wanda was an amazing friend, she always knew what to say and she was always honest. She could’ve told her to forget about Bucky, she would never create false hopes.

She put on her dark red night dress and brushed her hair a few times. It was something that always relaxed her when she was feeling sad, feeling anxious, worried or simply overthinking. It was always a good distraction. That and working out, of course.

Natasha thought that it would be a good idea to chill in the living room and when she went there, she quickly realized she wouldn’t be alone. Wanda and Tony were there and he was finishing his drink. Nat sat down on a chair in front of the kitchen desk. It looked like a bar inside the Tower.

“Tequila?” Nat asked him.

“Rum, actually. Do you want one?”

Nat and Tony used to drink together and was one of the things that made them bond. When one of them had a problem, they sat down, usually with a drink in hand and tell each other their sorrows.

“No, thanks.”

Then Tony filled his glass again and a second one as well. He gave it to Nat, who smiled at him. She really needed a drink right now.

“So, tell me.” Tony said, starting one of their usual conversations.

“I don’t really want to talk about it.” It was enough for her with one person knowing about her feelings, she didn’t want to make it two.

From his gaze, Nat could see he clearly wasn’t expecting that answer.

“Well… it must be bad if you don’t want to tell me.”

“It’s more like… embarrassing.” Nat said.

“Okay, now I really want to know.”

“Tony…” She said looking at him.

“Okay”. Tony sighed. “But if I have to kick someone’s else, you know where to find me.”

At that moment, the elevator opened and when Bucky saw Nat and realized what she was wearing he felt his heart skipping a beat.

“Tony you should fix that thing, it has taken us forever to get here!” Steve complained.

“Why didn’t you take the stairs?”

“This is one of the tallest buildings in New York and you want me to take the stairs????”

“Oh, come on! With all that serum you could get here before the elevator!”

“Don’t be exaggerated. Besides, I don’t think that would’ve been a good idea for Bucky…”

Then, Bucky looked at Steve, clearly unprepared for that introduction to the plan.

“What do you mean?” Natasha asked.

Steve and Bucky looked at each other, mentally preparing for the next step.

“Tony, you can to bed, don’t worry.” Nat said.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” He replied before heading to his room.

“Bucky? Are you okay? Please tell me you are okay.” Nat asked with trembling voice.

“I… I got hurt on the mission.”

“How hurt?” Nat worried. “Damn it! I knew I should’ve asked you before we left.” She added.

“Hey, Nat, it’s okay.” Bucky said, coming closer to her. “Are you kidding me? If it wasn’t for you on the elevator…”

“Don’t even finish that sentence, Bucky!” Natasha screamed with tears in her eyes.

Bucky looked at Steve, who widened his eyes, and Bucky already knew what his friend was thinking of.

“Take your shirt off.” Nat demanded. The images that were in her head had to be worse than reality. “Let me see your arm.”

“My… my arm?” Bucky asked, confused. There was no way she could know about his wound on his flesh arm.

“Your metal arm. The guy on the rooftop shot you on the arm, don’t you remember?” Nat said.

Bucky’s lips parted as he heard Nat caring so much about the fact that that was the first thing she had thought about, the fact that she cared so much about his metal arm. His heart skipped a beat and he looked at her, afraid of the tears coming to his eyes.

Steve couldn’t believe what was wrong with them two and why they were so doubtful about the other’s feelings and right now he was feeling like the most frustrated person on the planet.

Bucky started taking his shirt off and once Natasha saw the wounds, especially the ones on his stomach, her hand went to her mouth.

“I’m sorry, Bucky.” She apologized again.

“Nat, don’t.” Bucky hugged Nat and kissed her forehead, trying to make her feel better. “You saved me.”

She looked at him and cupped his face with her hands. Bucky, for a second, allowed himself to think that she was going to kiss him, and when their foreheads touched, he tried to control his breathing.

“I should’ve avoided that. I should’ve…”

Bucky grabbed her wrists and looked deep into Natasha’s eyes. She also let herself think that he was about to kiss her. That he even would want to.

“You killed the guy who did this to me. Okay?”

Natasha concentrated on the blue in his eyes and then nodded

“Steve? Could you please bring me the medical kit?” Natasha said, without letting go of Bucky.

“Sure.” He answered.

Steve left the room as if he was running and when he went to where the medical kit was he found Wanda with it in hand.

“Wanda? What are you doing? I really need that now.” He said.

“I know, I’ve heard the entire conversation.” She replied.

Instead of asking why she was there, Steve decided to talk to her about how frustrated he was. But she spoke first.

“Can you believe those two?” Wanda asked.

“I KNOW!! Wait, you know??” Steve said, surprised.

“Yes!! I was sure he had feelings for her and now that I’ve heard this… I mean… what is wrong with her??” Wanda complained.

“What is wrong with her? What is wrong with him??? She’s literally crying because he could’ve died and he’s still like ‘I don’t know, Steve, I don’t think she could have feelings for me…”. Aaah!! What a jerk!” Steve screamed.

Wanda put her hands like they were claws and made an angry face.

“I know!!!” He replied.

“Steve!!! Please tell me we don’t have to replenish the medical kit!!!” Nat screamed.

“No, it’s all good!!” He answered.

“Then what are you waiting for????” She screamed again.

Wanda and Steve looked at each other and then rolled their eyes. They came into the living room and brought the medical kit with them. Natasha took it immediately, thanking him and asked Bucky to sit on the couch. They went back to where the medical kit was because they weren’t planning on missing anything.

Nat took a small table and put it near the couch and without her noticing, Bucky stared at the shape of her body in the night dress she was wearing and how beautiful her hair looked under the dimmed lights of the living room at that time of the night. Once she had some cotton soaked in hydrogen peroxide, Natasha looked back at him and saw that his lips were parted and his eyes shone in an almost magical way with the lightning of the room. Natasha thought about how she could see all of his wounds properly but before she could do anything, without taking his eyes off her, Bucky sat her astride him. Her night dress moved upwards and her bare thighs were over Bucky’s.

“Emm... Bucky? I don’t know if you’re going to be comfortable with me sitting like this…” Nat said.

The closeness to his body was nearly killing her and the fact that it had been him who had placed her like that left her almost paralyzed.

“I am. I swear.” He assured her.

Nat looked at his left shoulder, where she had found the first wound. When Bucky saw where she were going to start off with, he looked away.

“Bucky. Bucky, look at me.” Nat said, placing her hand on his cheek. She took his metal hand and kissed the palm, just like he had done to her before to her, leaving Bucky astonished. “It’s okay.”

Natasha put the cotton on Bucky’s shoulder and then with her fingers caressed the place where flesh and metal met. She looked at Bucky before leaning on his shoulder and he held his breath. Bucky didn’t stop her and he closed his eyes as Natasha started leaving small kisses on that part of his body. She could continue curing the injuries on his body but Bucky felt that with those kisses he would never feel pain ever again.

“Let me see the metal. I want to know if I had to fix something about…” Natasha said.

“But the vibranium is so resistant…” Bucky replied.

“But it can still be damaged. This is only the first design it was made for your arm.”

Bucky looked at Natasha, impressed. “How do you know that? Only Shuri would know that for sure. She built it.”

She looked back at him and took a deep breath before revealing: “She didn’t do it alone. I helped her.”

His eyes widened. He was speechless. “I… I didn’t know… Why did you do it?”

Natasha could tell by his voice that he was… happy, as if she had done him a great favour.

“I heard she wanted to make you a new arm and I asked her if I could help her. I know stuff about technology like she does. Tony taught me a few things and… she needed someone who knew you and not making… any kind of arm. I wanted it to be special, something that would protect you…” Natasha took his metal arm and everything was alright. “I would say we did a pretty good job. But I swear I didn’t choose the colour!”

That comment made Bucky laughed, forming wrinkles on the corners of his eyes. That along with the sound of his laugh were the most beautiful things in the world for Natasha.

“I wanted something different cheerful like… bright blue. Like…”

“My eyes?” He asked.

She looked at them again.

“Yes.”

At that moment Bucky thought he couldn’t love her more than he did after knowing that. He felt the need to kiss Natasha right there and having her on top of him dressed like that, he didn’t know how he had been capable of keeping his composure. Then, Natasha’s facial expression changed from a smile to a sad face. She looked down at Bucky’s flesh arm where she had found another wound and Bucky wondered what could she be thinking about. Suddenly, the thought of Nat not knowing if he would let her make a move on him came to Bucky’s mind. But if he did, what would happen next? After the hell he had been through Bucky saw himself capable and wanting to give love to someone for the first time. To Natasha. But Bucky thought that maybe it was too complicated on her side. Maybe she didn’t know if she could love him like that. On the bad situations they did anything for the other and on the good ones, they appreciated every second of it, the company of the other being all that they could ask for. So Bucky decided to let Natasha make up her mind until she knew for sure what she felt for him, allowing himself for the first time to actually consider that possibility. Bucky decided in that moment that he wasn’t going to keep hiding his feelings for Nat and that he wouldn’t make the mistake of pushing her away.

Nat’s hand was taking a long time on Bucky’s arm and she wondered if he had noticed that the cotton was dry but she continued caressing his bicep, trying to breathe like a normal human being but it was really difficult. Bucky’s thickness had Natasha breathless, making her knees weak and the position she was in didn’t make things any easier. Nat reached out to the desk to get a new piece of cotton and when she looked down at his abs she had to take a deep breath. When Nat placed it on his skin, Bucky immediately tilted his head back and growled in pain. His crotch moved a little bit upwards, which took Natasha by surprised. Her body moved on top of him, turning both of them on. Bucky let a moan escape his lips and when he looked at Nat, his gaze was strong. Then, Natasha, not knowing what to do, put the cotton back on Bucky’s skin and this time he bit his lower lip.

“I hope you’re not hurting yourself there.” Nat said, pointing at his lips.

“You want to make sure about it?” Bucky replied with hungry eyes.

The thing was, Bucky was able to make Natasha catch some of his attitudes sometimes. And right now, they were both hot and confidently playful with the other. And they both loved it. But Bucky wasn’t expecting Nat to look at him with a wicked smile before running her thumb through his lower lip while Bucky looked into Nat’s eyes with the same facial expression. She took her thumb off his lips and then looked at each other, heavily breathing.

“You’re good to go.” Nat said.

Bucky pursed his mouth in a self-satisfied smirk and looking at Natasha’s thighs he responded:

“Then why don’t you let me go, doll?”

And when she was about to move, she realized… that she couldn’t.

“Bucky…?”

“Yes?” He asked her, looking into her eyes.

“I can’t move my legs.” Nat replied, embarrassed.

Bucky laughed and immediately lifted her up. Nat put her arms around his neck as Bucky took her legs and placed them around his waist.

“Let’s go to bed.” Bucky said with a kind smile, caressing Nat’s thighs with his thumbs.

Nat were blushing so much she couldn’t even look at him in the eyes, so she let her head rest on Bucky’s shoulder.

“What are you doing here, guys?” She heard Bucky asking.

Natasha turned around and found Wanda and Steve on the hallway, who looked at the two of them with the eyes wide opened.

“What are you doing?” Steve asked, surprised.

“I’m taking her to bed.” Bucky answered.

That sentence made Natasha smile and she couldn’t hold it back.

“I can’t walk.” She said, shyly.

“Okay…” Wanda replied. “Good night, guys, we were about to go to bed as well.”

“They’re driving me crazy.” Steve said, once they made sure Bucky had taken Natasha to her room. “I’m taking her to bed.” He added, mocking Bucky.

“And did you see her face when he said that?” Wanda replied.

“Did you see his face??”

“I swear… I don’t get them…” Wanda said, running her fingers through her head, frustrated.

They looked back and saw Bucky coming out of Natasha’s room and Wanda immediately went to hers, telling Bucky good night.

“How it’s going, buddy?” Steve asked him.

“Maybe… maybe you were right. But I don’t know if I should make a move on her. What if things get awkward between us after that?”

“Bucky, there is no way that could happen. It would only make things better!”

Bucky simply sighed in response.

“I’m going to try to get some sleep. Good night, Steve.”

“Good night, Bucky.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back with a new update. Prepare yourselves for the angst and the feels that come with this chapter :D I really liked writing it and these characters in general, so I hope you enjoy it as well!

When Natasha knocked on Bucky’s door the first thing she saw was his glorious naked torso that already looked way better, even though it always did.

“Nat?” Bucky asked, confused and tired because she had woke him up but then he realized that Natasha was covered in beautiful red lingerie, similar to the nightdress she was wearing before and that now had completely disappeared. “Do you…” Bucky blinked a few times. Natasha was a vision for his eyes. “… do you need something?”

“Yes.” She said, coming closer to him. She touched his naked torso where his heart was beating so hard that it felt like it was going to come out of his chest. His eyes looked at hers, not so patiently waiting for her next move. “You.”

When Natasha grabbed Bucky by the neck and kissed his lips fiercely, Bucky completely lost his mind. His body didn’t have time to react in the first seconds but his hands went to her cheeks, not wanting the kiss to end. Bucky shut the door and he didn’t mind about waking up whoever could’ve heard it. Nat and him were kissing and that was all that mattered to Bucky. He embedded her against the door and his hands were now in her waist, sinking his fingers in her skin and Natasha took the chance to put her legs around him. Bucky moved his hands to her back and then to her hair, making the kiss even more passionate. Then, Natasha’s fingers tousled Bucky’s hair while he was running towards the bed. He didn’t even wait to placed her over the sheets and instead jumped to the bed with Nat on top, caressing his cheeks. He lay down and made sure her body stood over him by grabbing her buttocks with a soft moan leaving Nat’s mouth, breaking the kiss. She caught her breath and with Bucky’s back over the mattress he opened his eyes for the first time.

And then woke up.

Bucky startled, heavy breathing. He was alone in bed. He looked down at his hands where Nat’s skin was nowhere to be found. Bucky closed his eyes. It all had been a dream. He lay down, running his fingers through his hair. It was too good to be true.

“Bucky? Are you okay?”

He looked at the door he always left open, unlike in the dream. Nat was there in her nightdress with a worried face.

“Did you have a nightmare?” She asked, coming closer to the bed.

Bucky kept looking at the door and he couldn’t believe Nat had noticed him abruptly waking up from his dream. Nightmare, she said. Not even close. But he decided to lie. At that moment, it seemed like the best thing to do.

“Yeah. Can you… close the door, please?”

Natasha looked at Bucky with a sad face and she did as he said, getting out of the room. But before she could walk away, Bucky stopped her.

“No!” Bucky almost screamed, desperate.

Natasha opened the door again, confused. Bucky took a deep breath before pretty much begging her:

“Stay with me.”

Natasha closed the door and run to bed with Bucky, who was looking at her with shiny eyes as she came closer. Nat held him tight and Bucky buried his face in her neck and she could feel his heart beating in his chest so hard it was gently hitting her skin. She remained in that position for a while but his heart kept beating fast but now for a different reason. Nat thought Bucky must have had a terrible nightmare if he wasn’t able to calm down, even with her softly caressing his back with her fingers. Bucky was afraid to tell Natasha that he didn’t have had a nightmare. That it was one of the most beautiful dreams he had ever had and that the worst part had been waking up until she showed up on his bedroom.

Nat looked at Bucky in the eyes and she cupped his face and caressed his cheeks with her thumbs.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Bucky closed his eyes and sighed in relief, making Nat smile with how much she felt he needed her at that moment and she kissed his forehead, causing him to relax his shoulders a little bit. He lay down and it took her no time to put her body next to his, both of them hugging underneath the bedsheets.

“What was it about?” Nat asked Bucky without looking at him. “The…”

“Nightmare?” He completed.

“Yes.” She replied, afraid of having gone too far.

“I’m not ready to tell you.”

It must have been truly horrible, Nat thought. It probably was something related to HYDRA. She moved her body upwards to kiss Bucky’s forehead once again as if that kiss could brush away his nightmare, and then held him tighter.

“I’m here, Bucky. I’m not leaving. Sorry I asked.”

Bucky smiled and kissed her temple, slowly caressing as much of Natasha as he could with his flesh arm.

“It’s okay, Nat. I’m okay now that you’re here.” He let her know with a smile. “Now let’s get some sleep.”

Nat knew sleeping in Bucky’s arms would probably be the only way to do it after that night but she would’ve never thought it could be possible.

***

The next morning Natasha woke up with Bucky’s warmth all over her. When she looked at him, he was still asleep, and his puppy face was so adorable that it made Nat gush like a teenager. She moved a lot while sleeping and she was afraid Bucky wouldn’t sleep because of her. But that wasn’t the case at all. Bucky’s arms covered Natasha at all times. She shivered under his touch and a small growl left his mouth. Without opening his eyes, Bucky held her tight using his whole body.

“Good morning.” Bucky murmured, making Nat gush with his soft morning voice.

“Are you cold?” He asked her, opening his eyes.

“A little.” Nat answered with her body in a ball shape.

“Wait.” Bucky said, touching a part of his metal arm that Nat knew increased its temperature, a feature she had included just in case he needed it.

Bucky put his arm around and Nat instantly noticed the difference. She sighed at the wonderful sensation so much that it sounded like a moan. But it still wasn’t enough so she took his arm, making the metal touch her skin under the nightdress. Bucky had to hold his breath. Nat rested her body on his torso enjoying the warmth of the arm on her body.

“Is that… better?” Bucky asked shyly.

Nat nodded, holding him tighter and that movement made her almost overturned over his body. Bucky caught her and she ended up on top of him. His metal hand had gone up her back and he then noticed that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Nat realized what Bucky had just discovered, as he was starting to get hard under her body and Nat let Bucky know how turned on she was were by letting him hear her intense breathing. His eyes look at hers, surprised as Nat sat astride Bucky, rubbing against his crotch, giving him flashbacks of last night. He closed his eyes, not believing what was happening. Scared of it being a dream again, Bucky opened them again and his gaze hit Nat like a raging ocean would hit the rocks of its coast and he let a moan escaped his lips. Their mouths were about to collide but the sound of the door suddenly interrupted them.

“Bucky?”

They both widened their eyes when they heard Steve’s voice on the other side of the door. Thank god they closed it last night. Nat quickly put herself under the sheets, leaving Bucky to answer the door.

“Yeah?”

“Can I come in?”

Bucky’s eyes widened even more and he looked at the bed where Nat were hidden. She immediately uncovered herself and after a few intense seconds, she run to the bathroom, trying not to be heard.

“Yeah, Steve, come in.” Bucky replied, his voice breaking in the middle of how nervous he was.

When Steve opened the door he looked confused at his friend.

“Are you okay, buddy? You never sleep with the door closed.”

“Right! I… umm… I’m okay, don’t worry.” Bucky said, his voice breaking once again.

“Buck, are you hoarse?” Steve asked.

“What?” Bucky replied, this time with his voice in a higher pitch than normal. He coughed several times before continuing talking. “No.” He added, super serious.

“Okay… Tony wants to tell us something and you and Nat are the only ones missing breakfast. By the way, do you know where is she?”

Bucky simply widened his eyes and shook his head like a thousand times.

“Okay... ‘Cause she’s not in her room and Thor can’t find her.”

“Umm… she probably went for a run or something, don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine.”

Steve looked at Bucky even more confused and an awkward silence filled the room for seconds that seemed like hours.

“A run?”

“Yeah… she has a lot of energy in the morning… not that I know about that!” He mumbled. “I need to pee.” He added, trying to get rid of Steve as fast as possible.

“Okay… I’ll see you, buddy.” Steve said before walking away.

Bucky closed the door again and turned around. Natasha came out of the bathroom laughing, looking at the poor Bucky, who almost had a heart attack.

“Shut up.” He said, laughing as well.

Bucky covered Natasha’s mouth with his flesh hand until she relaxed and once she did, Nat’s lips slowly showed up under Bucky’s hand like a blooming rose and when he felt her lower lip moving, caressing the skin of his hand, he immediately took it off as if her lips were on fire and they had burned him.

They held each other’s gaze, heavy breathing.

“Bucky?” Natasha finally said.

“Yeah…?” He answered, noticing the reddish tone her lips had acquired.

“Did Steve mention if it was an emergency?”

“Why?” Bucky asked, confused.

“Because this is.”

It took him completely by surprise when she brushed his hair with both hands, taking his face closer to hers until their lips touched and as soon as they did Bucky learned the difference between dreams and reality. He could smell Natasha’s fragrance, felt his skin responding to hers even if she was only touching a small fraction of his. The dreams were only pure images in comparison to the torrent of sensations running through his body. Bucky’s arms held Natasha tight and she lifted her legs as if they were dancing. When their tongues met she felt her body melting while Bucky was exploring her mouth.

After a while, Bucky, with a strength he had thought would be unimaginable, said:

“They’re looking for us. We should go if we…”

“What a shame, Sargeant Barnes.” Natasha interrupted him with hungry eyes. “Trying to give me orders with the word ‘should’.” She said, playfully.

Natasha knew how much Bucky loved when she called him that. And he surely did because he looked at her, eyes on fire before saying with his voice deeper than she had ever heard:

“You better take that off because I’m afraid if I do I’ll rip it. And that would be a shame.”

Those words almost made her lost it right there but instead, Natasha pulled her nightdress over her head and threw it away, not wasting any more time to keep kissing Bucky. He thought about the dream and grabbed her butt, taking Natasha to bed. He put her on top as he kept massaging her buttocks and Natasha started moaning more intensely. She moved Bucky’s body and put him on top of her and the feeling of his weight over her body was breathtaking. They kept kissing each other while feeling the skin of their chests touching now with no barriers at all. Bucky left a million ones until he got to Natasha’s neck, where he pressed his lips, devouring that part of her body, making her see the stars and say his name between intense moans. Bucky gave Natasha a wicked smile, barely inches away from her face. It was hard to see the blue in his eyes after she had said his name as if she was in heaven but with a lust and their skin so hot that she could’ve been in hell. Natasha felt how hard Bucky was and before she could moan again his lips came back to hers and she could feel how intensely he was breathing by the linger it left on her lips. Even his breath was burning.

But, once again, something made them come back to the real world. This time Bucky didn’t even wait for a voice to speak after the knock on the door.

“I’M COMING!!!!” Bucky screamed at the door, breaking the kiss.

His voice turned her on and Natasha realized the way his muscles were tensed up above her, his skin shining with the sunlight coming from the window. And dammit it was a marvelous vision.

“You don’t get to talk to me like that, Barnes!”

Natasha clearly recognised Tony’s voice from the other side of the door and prayed for him not to open it.

“Go find Nat and get your asses here to eat your fucking breakfast! We need to talk!”

Natasha heard his steps across the corridor and then both of them took a deep breath. She got out of bed and when they looked at each other they realized they weren’t afraid of things being weird between the two of them. They were afraid it would never happen again.

“I told you we should’ve left.” Bucky laughed, putting on a pair of intense blue jeans.

“Well, then you should’ve used better words than those.” Natasha replied.

They both laughed before looking at each other a little bit sad, overwhelmed by their own thoughts.

“Would you do that again?” Natasha finally asked, looking at the wooden floor.

Bucky took Natasha’s chin and kissed her softly, regretting he hadn’t done it earlier like he would’ve wished, but they were both craving the other so much they couldn’t resist it and the result would’ve been the same anyway. An explosion.

“That and more.” Bucky said, looking into Natasha’s eyes, his blue ones soft and bright. “If I didn’t it would be the end of me.”

Natasha stood concentrated in the softness and brightness of his blue eyes, looking for the words to say now. She had been brave enough to end with the tension and with the delicacy of his last kiss he made her considered it might not all be a mere physical attraction to him. That maybe it really was something more, a word she would’ve never imagined to be so meaningful until she heard Bucky saying it. More. He wanted more of her. Perhaps even all.

Natasha put her arms around Bucky and he leaned in for a kiss before she made another move, his hands resting on her hips, his lips awakening her once again. Every kiss was like waking up for the first time after having had the feeling of having been asleep for too long. And that was the only reality Natasha wanted to live in.

“Mine too.”

When Natasha closed the door of Bucky’s room, she was left with happiness and confusion all at the same time. What the hell just happened? She’d kissed Bucky. And he’d kissed her back. And if it weren’t for the interruptions who knows what could’ve happened next. No. That would’ve been going too fast. But… now what? She knew they would have that conversation at some point, specially because she didn’t want things to end there. On the other side of the door, Bucky lay on the bed, breathing in to retain Natasha’s scent that was everywhere in the room.

Natasha was so in caught up in her own thoughts that she didn’t realize she had stumbled with someone on her way to her bedroom to put some clothes on.

“Nat! You’re here!” Thor screamed. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

In that moment, Natasha wished that he wouldn’t ask her questions. Not because she felt that she had something to hide but because she still needed to figure things out and having everyone in the Tower knowing about what was going on between her and Bucky would only make everything even more complicated.

“Tony wants to tell us something. He’s kind of angry this morning. I don’t know why.” Thor added, without mentioning the fact that she was nowhere to be found that morning.

“Then I better get going.” Natasha said, heading to the living room with her nightdress on.

On the way there she took deep breaths trying to calm down but she knew there was no way she could be ready for whatever questions they could ask her about where were she that morning. When Natasha got to the living room she felt everyone’s eyes on her. But there were two she didn’t see. Bucky’s.

“Where the hell is Metal Ken? I just told him to be here asap!” Tony complained.

“I wouldn’t say you told me to be here, you screamed at me to get my ass here.” Natasha heard Bucky’s husky voice behind her and she immediately turned around. He was shirtless.

“Both of you.” Tony replied, pointing at her and Bucky, making Natasha very nervous. “I see you found her.”

Bucky simply nodded in response.

“No, I found her. She was in the hallway, a bit far away from her room.” Thor said.

Bucky swallowed saliva and run his fingers through his already messy brunette hair.

“I’m going to make some breakfast.” Bucky said, trying so hard to change the topic.

“Yeah, me too.” Natasha quickly added.

Bucky and her went to where the Nespresso machine and the toaster were, far enough from Tony and everyone else to be able to breathe a little bit. Natasha bent down to take the bread and she noticed that Bucky had taken the chance to look at her butt when she did it.

“You want some?” Natasha asked him.

“You know I do.” He answered with a crooked smile.

She put the bread on the toaster and Bucky looked back before whispering in her ear:

“You couldn’t even put some clothes on?”

“I have more clothes on than you do, Bucky.”

“I don’t see you complaining about it, doll.” He said with hungry eyes. “Besides, you’re wrong. I bet you’re not even wearing a bra underneath that nightdress.” He said, putting her body against the kitchen table. Bucky put his metal hand next to her body and slid the other one inside her nightdress to prove his point. His flesh thumb was close to her right nipple and the rest of his fingers caressed part of her back. When his skin finally touched her nipple, Natasha contained a moan and thanked that Bucky’s thick body covered hers so no one could see her face.

“I don’t see you complaining about it either.”

He quickly took his hand off her skin when the bread came out of the toaster and Bucky opened the fridge while Natasha was trying to come back to Earth and he handed her a jar of her favourite jelly: raspberry.

“We ran out of that the other day!” She exclaimed.

“I went to the market and bought a few jars. I know they’re your favourite and they’re kind of hard to find and these guys only buy peach jelly or they don’t even bother.”

“Bucky… that is so sweet. Thank you so much.” Natasha put the jar on the kitchen table and hugged him, giving him a kiss on his left cheek, close to the corner of his lips. It was this type of small details that made her heart beat faster.

Wanda hit Steve with her elbow and made him look at Natasha and Bucky.

“It feels like he’s doing better.” Steve pointed out with a smile.

“What do you mean?” Wanda asked confused.

“He was acting a little bit weird this morning when I told him about Tony.”

“How weird, exactly? Did he mention Nat?

“No, he said she’d probably went for a run or something like that. He didn’t seem worried.”

“He… he didn’t?”

“Well… he wasn’t actually relaxed. It’s like he wanted me to get out of the room immediately.”

Wanda widened her eyes and didn’t hold herself back and gave Steve a small hit in the head.

“Do you know what you did this morning, Steve??”

“No. I don’t. And why do you hit me?”

Wanda took his head and made him look at Natasha and Bucky. He couldn’t see their faces but he could tell they were very close to each other. When Bucky moved his body to start making the coffee Natasha was looking at him with hungry eyes and so was he. He had put the toasts on a plate and she had already started eating them. When Bucky noticed that Natasha had some jelly on the corner of her mouth, he cleaned it up with his metal thumb and then licked it, smiling at her.

Steve looked at Wanda with widened eyes.

“Holy…” He started.

“I TOLD YOU.” She finished.

“Are they…?” Steve asked.

Bucky and Natasha took their breakfast to the couch and before they got there, he placed a kiss on her shoulder, making her giggle.

“They better be.” Wanda replied.

They sat together on the couch very close. They couldn’t keep their eyes off each other.

“So, what did have to tell us, Tony?” Natasha said.

“Well, now that you’re all FINALLY here, I wanted to announce that the new Avengers compound is ready and we’ll have a bowling alley. I wanted to do something fun with all of you after the last mission so… you’re welcome.”

“Cool! When’s the party?” Sam asked.

“It’s not a party. Just a fun inauguration.” Tony corrected him.

“You mean… a party.” Sam said. 

“Whatever! It’s this afternoon. I’ll bring the cars and you better be on time. Bucky, Nat, I hope you heard that.”

“So… that was it?” Sam asked. “Those were the big news?”

“Looks like.” Thor said.

“Then we should get ready to pack our things and move.” Natasha said, standing up.

***

Natasha went to her room to put some clothes on when she realized Bucky’s scent was all over her. She took a deep breath and then her thoughts instantly came back to him. Natasha knew she had to do something about this whole situation, she had to talk to him about what happened before they could take things somewhere else. And as if he knew she was thinking about him, Natasha heard his voice behind her.

“Hi.”

She noticed how different his voice sounded. She turned around to face him and he was smiling but it wasn’t the kind of smile of someone who is happy to see you. He wanted to comfort her with it. Natasha couldn’t even move her lips.

“Is everything alright?” He asked.

It made her feel bad to see him that worried but she had to clear things up between them as soon as possible.

“We should talk.” Natasha said with a serious face.

Bucky closed the door and walked to her and when he tried to kiss her, she pushed him away.

“Did I… have I done something wrong?”

Now he was really afraid.

“It’s not… it’s not exactly that.” Natasha started. “Bucky, I’m not sure that we want the same things.” That was the best way to put it.

Bucky felt his heart breaking. His chest was heavy and he had to take a few breaths and, after trying for a while he finally spoke.

“What?”

He was trying not to cry in front of her.

“Look, I’m sorry but I think I gave you the wrong impression this morning about what I want.”

He was trying really hard.

“Nat … maybe we went too fast but we can totally slow things down a little, I… I want this.” He realized how desperate he sounded but he didn’t care at all.

“No, Bucky. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen what you want.”

“What do you think I want?” Bucky asked Natasha with his face barely inches away from hers.

“Something physical. You want me to be in bed with you and have sex until our bones collide because I can tell now that you like me.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“And you don’t want the same thing?”

“I don’t want… just that. I want more.”

For the first time since he had entered the room, he felt there was hope.

“And you really think that’s all I want?”

Bucky cupped Natasha’s face with his hands and made her look into his blue eyes.

“My body is not the only thing of me that wants you. My heart does too. All of me. I want to be in bed with you and make love to you which is what I should’ve done last night when you came into my room.” There was no way he could stop talking. There was no looking back. So he decided to tell her everything. “That night I didn’t have a nightmare. I dreamed about you. And yes, I wasn’t ready to tell you but… when I saw you at the door… I felt I was still dreaming. I never thought my dreams could come true but when you kissed me… I was so glad everything was real.” He took a deep breath before continuing. He was shaking. “I want to go shopping jelly with you and have breakfast with you and go on missions with you. With or without fancy dresses because you look beautiful anyway. As long as I get to sleep with you every night.”

Natasha had to look away from a second, trying to process his words. She wasn’t expecting anything like that at all. After so many years and so much pain, she would’ve never believed that Bucky would say these words to her.

“I love you.”

And once he said those three words her eyes came back to his.

“I’m the one scared of you not feeling the same way.” Bucky concluded.

“Bucky… Of course I do.”

Her lips found his in a soft and passionate kiss with Natasha’s arms around Bucky’s neck and his hands on her back.

“I’m in love with you, Bucky. And I want to be with you.” Natasha finally said.

“Then I guess we want the same thing.” Bucky said playful.

They both laughed and then looked at each other with shiny eyes. He held her close and kissed her very sweetly, with their hands intertwining. They couldn’t but smile against the other’s lips.

“You know… after what happened this morning I wanted to tell you that I want our first time to be more than a quick bang.” Bucky said. “I want to make love to you, Natasha.”

He really did love her. It wasn’t just sexual tension and this proved it. It was real.

Natasha kissed him again and held him close, hearing the beat of his heart loud. Maybe it had always been real, but finally, they made the other know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments and thank you so much for reading :)


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